If you are thinking I am becoming a poet (sartorial poetry to be precise) from being a fashion expert, please don’t! I just felt like going back in time and see how it would be to poetically describe fashion of an era; a time of history when few men with a creative eye changed the conventional pointy shirt collars to snub, rounded ones! Yes my friends, the rounded collars are back and here to stay.

The Beginning

The Club Collars have a long sartorial history. In early 1800s, boys at the Eton College of England felt the need to stand out from the locals, as much as their school did. So they decided to give a new look to their uniforms! And snip went the collars into a soft, rounded look. So every time an Eton boy was out there in public, the others knew where he was from and that made the Eton college boys unique, belonging to a niche group, almost like an exclusive ‘Club’. Hence the moniker.

Now, what usually happens with all elitist fashion, happened to our dear Club Collars and were immediately picked up by the masses as an aspiration to fit into the ‘Club ‘. Since that day, and over the decades that followed, the Club Collars had adorned the necks of innumerable actors, politicians, influential people and other celebrities. The original club collars were large and high-neck which of course was trimmed down to fit the taste of the 19th century.

The Exile of the Club

The much admired and adorned Club Collar shirts went into oblivion during the War, when clothing was restricted and even after war ended, the austerity of clothing was replaced by wide lapels, spread collars and roomy suits with deconstructed tailoring but Club Collars were a rare sight.

The Club Collar Today

After almost eight decades, television shows like Mad Men, Suits, Boardwalk Empire and various celebrities, flaunting Club Collar shirts have popularized them among modern men.

Since the collars are snub, the best way to highlight them is to accessorize with narrow ties, cravats and suspenders!

Read on as I unfold the contemporary versions of the traditional Club Collars and what makes this ‘Blast from the past’ style a unique element in modern fashion!